03 May, 2006

The Demon Sugar Water

The Tripartite Pact and has been signed. Thus begins the great soda embargo.

The nation's largest beverage distributors have agreed to halt nearly all sales of sodas to public schools - a step that will remove the sugary, caloric drinks from vending machines and cafeterias around the country.

Since soda is my major caloric weakness, I can see how this might be a good thing. But then we get here:

Under the agreement, the companies also have agreed to sell only water, unsweetened juice and low-fat milks to elementary and middle schools. Diet sodas would be sold only to high schools.

Folks, unsweetened juice still has a natural sugar content. It's not magic. Kids are still guzzling sweet drinks. And what about stuff like Four Bits' snake oil Vitamin Water? It sells for $1.99--a little over twice what vending machine sodas cost. Schools are their target market. So now you can drink healthy but pay twice as much? Isn't that one of the roots of this huge problem.

Very keen observation that bottled 'vitamin' water, juices can still be sold.

It's all a matter of PR. I saw in the NY Times a few months ago a full page ad for the "Make Every Drop Count" coca cola campaign. I showed it to my Public Relations professor. He was impressed that I saw right through it. Puh-leez. I'm a fat man, but I've also read a few books in my time.

The beverage companies will probably wind up making MORE money by selling only "good" items in schools. They're good for them because they will make a ton of money.

And by the way, remember when there were beer commercials and soda commercials in primetime? Coke vs Pepsi was so much wicked sniping fun. Now it's Dasani v Aquafina.